Punjab floods: Scientific disposal of carcasses a challenge for authorities

As floodwaters begin to recede, carcasses of cattle and other livestock that are now emerging are becoming a big challenge to the authorities involved in the flood relief work.

A total of 3.60 lakh livestock population in the state has been affected by the floods in the past three weeks and hundreds of cattle — both dead and alive — were swept away in the Ravi waters towards Pakistan. While a huge livestock population drowned in floodwaters, their carcasses are now emerging on the surface as waters recede in Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur and Fazilka.

Scientific disposal of these carcasses to avoid any spread of diseases is becoming a big challenge to the authorities. A number of animal deaths have also been caused by snake bites and collapse of animal sheds.

It is learnt that four excavators have been pressed in service in each of the flood-affected blocks for disposing of the carcasses. “So far, 540 carcasses of cattle and 34,000 poultry birds have been buried. Barring some carcasses that lie in an enclave across the Ravi in Gurdaspur district, or the ones that emerge in fields as flood waters ebb, we are quickly disposing of carcasses,” Principal Secretary, Animal Husbandry, Rahul Bhandari, told The Tribune. It may be mentioned that the enclave across the Ravi in Gurdaspur remains cut off as water still flows at over 4.30 lakh cusecs at Dharamkot, where the gauge is not accessible. As a result, the health or veterinary teams have not been able to reach there.

“Though the state government has requisitioned 382 teams of veterinary doctors to check on the livestock, a plan is under way to scientifically dispose of the bodies of the livestock that died in the floods. Vaccines are being sent for any bacterial infection that may occur in cattle,” Punjab Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian told The Tribune. Though so far, the Animal Husbandry Department is going in for the burial of the carcasses in 4-foot deep pits, and using salt and quicklime to decompose these, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who came on a visit to the flood-affected state on Tuesday, suggested that we should get in touch with the Gujarat Government to find a chemical being used there to decompose carcasses quickly, and avoid spread of related diseases.

“I have asked the department to get in touch with the Gujarat Government and the Banaskantha Dairy Cooperative there. The best and most scientific way to decompose these animal bodies will be used in Punjab,” he said, adding that the recently conducted livestock census was useful to know the exact figures of livestock deaths, and compensation for each cattle, poultry bird and other animals will be given as per the norms.

Khuddian said though he viewed preparing the flood-affected 4.79 lakh acres of land back for agriculture operations and getting the dairy and poultry farmers back on track a challenge, it was imperative to do this quickly for getting Punjab’s rural economy back on track. “The state government has already come up with a policy to allow farmers to extract the silt deposited on their land by the floodwaters, and sell it or use it, as they deem fit. It is only after the floodwaters recede and this silt has been removed that the agriculture experts and scientists will be able to determine the impact of floodwaters present on the affected land for three weeks now. But I am hopeful that farmers will be able to sow their wheat crop on this land in November,” he said.